topolects

Noun

topolect (plural topolects)

1. The speech form, variety (lect) of a particular place or region.
   • We can then establish and name further categories by means of the word "group" and the prefix "sub-", thus obtaining SUBDIALECT ("Untermundart") between topolect and dialect, DIALECT GROUP ("Mundartengruppe") between dialect and language, SUBFAMILY ("Unterfamilie") between language and family,1964, University of South Florida Language Quarterly, 2, page iii

   Synonyms:

   geolect, regiolect, regionalect

2. A regional variety of Chinese; especially a lect other than Standard Mandarin.
   • Imminent Chinese linguist Zhou Youguang has said that everyone’s mother tongue is a topolect, whereas China’s standard spoken language has long been the “teacher tongue.”2007, Samuel Cole, “Learning Putonghua as an adult: a study of four Hong Kong teachers' experiences”, in The University of Hong Kong (Thesis), archived from the original on 02 Jun 2018

   Synonyms:

   fangyan, regionalect